Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Application:
The church faces opposition within and without, yet here is Paul, writing a letter about joy and telling the Philippians to rejoice. From a human perspective, it doesn’t make sense. And yet the path to joy is to actually choose to rejoice, so Paul tells them to rejoice in the Lord always. And to drive home the point, he repeats himself: I will say it again: Rejoice!
Worldly happiness is not the same as godly happiness. Godly happiness is called joy. In the Bible, the word joy is a celebratory term. Thus, Paul is calling for celebration. The difference between joy and secular happiness is that the latter depends on what happens; it is driven by circumstances.
So, if things are going in an upward direction in life, you feel up, but if things are going down, you feel down. This keeps you on an emotional rollercoaster. Biblical joy, by contrast, has to do with stability and celebration on the inside regardless of circumstances on the outside. We must choose to rejoice to experience the joy God promises us.
The path to joy includes showing your graciousness to everyone. It means not spreading unhappiness to others. Being gracious means we don’t use our ministries to be vindictive or hateful when things go wrong. Rather, we embrace a good attitude because we know the Lord is near. He’s closer to us than we think. But if we refuse to rejoice and instead complain, we can make the very near God feel very far off indeed.
Reference: Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019), 1245.
To God be the glory!
Our Lord Jesus Christ created everything! By Him, For Him!
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26
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Disclaimer
When God inspires me, I write or post articles that glorify God. I invite you to view this post as a Bible study. Like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, I encourage you to search the Scriptures to determine whether what I have posted is true. Always consult your church ministers regarding biblical matters. I am not a professional writer, so there may be grammatical or spelling errors. I strive to write as clearly and efficiently as possible. My prayer is that this message will inspire you to seek the Lord with all your heart and bring glory to His Holy name. Your brother in Christ, Ricardo.
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